One of A Kind Love Affair

A year ago, Tenderloin resident Delano Seymour wrote and filmed this video essay for the San Francisco Chronicle's blog, "The City Exposed: Touring the Tenderloin.

Del Seymour operates the Tenderloin Walking Tours.
http://www.tlwalkingtours.com/

The City Exposed: Touring the Tenderloin from San Francisco Chronicle on Vimeo.

Seymour, 65, was born in Chicago but has lived in the Tenderloin for more than three decades. "I've lived in the homeless shelters. I've eaten in every soup kitchen. I've experienced a lot of ghosts and devils in the Tenderloin," he said. 

For 15 years, he gave mini tours of the city from the front seat of the cab he drove. Two years ago he began his Tenderloin walking tour, hoping to make people more aware of the troubles facing his beloved neighborhood. The 90-minute tour is free, although Seymour eventually wants local companies to sponsor his efforts. 

"This is not a business venture. It's a love affair," he said.

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A year later, Del Seymour has launched an Indiegogo campaign.
Through August 11, a $25 donation includes a Tenderloin Walking Tour for 1-2 people.

Tenderloin Walking Tours from A Tiny Drop of Change on Vimeo.

Hi, My name is Del Seymour. I operate the Tenderloin Walking Tours.

I have been conducting tours for 4 years now. I was formerly a homeless occupant of the Tenderloin (TL) with serious substance abuse issues. I eventually cleaned up my life and decided to form this project so that I could show other people in the same situation that homelessness and drug/alcohol are not life sentences. 

I have been offering free tours of the Tenderloin for three years. This is not a business venture. It’s a love affair. I do the tours for free because I want to show people the Tenderloin; I want them to see the beauty that I see, and I hope that by bringing attention and awareness to this part of the city, tourists and residents will begin to see the Tenderloin in a different light. 

It is my hope that if the Tenderloin receives more positive exposure, it will give the residents reason to have more pride, improve their personal outlook, and inspire them to be better stewards of their neighborhood. 

I do not charge for these tours but I rely on donations. I currently take about 60 people per week. My participants range from middle school kids to doctors from Australia. 

I do a special venue with the youngsters where I show them some of their peers that are immersed in the TL drug/prostitution lifestyle. I let them know that they are only one step, one joint, one hit of Ecstasy away from being a part of the TL. When I do my "speech" there is not a dry eye among the kids. 

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One of a kind love affair is

The kind of love that you

read about in a fairy tale

Like the sun that shines

on a rainy day

it's a cloud of love

One of a kind love affair is

When your down is up

when your up is down

but love stays around

And when you know you're right

but you got to make a little sacrifice

you make it for love

“One Of A Kind Love Affair” by Joseph B. Jefferson

performed by The Spinners - Live 1976